Ever met anyone who (you thought) pronounced their own name wrongly?

[ErmineAndPearls]

Inspired by a few posts on the Secret Confessions thread. I once met a woman called Leigh. She insisted that everyone must call her “Lay”. Also, a whole family whose surname is Onions, but they pronounce it “O’Nyons”. Like, just own it or change the spelling. There are more.

Mad-la would be pretty normal in France.

There seem to be maaaaaany ways to spell Alistair. And Lindsay, that name has way too many variations.

It would, as Nee-ul is the Irish language pronunciation of the Irish name Niall.
However, most Irish people use the anglicised pronunciation Nigh-ul, at least where I live

Confused by Janine, I've only ever heard Ja-neen yet PP says Jnine??
Many pronunciations vary based on regional accents and dialects.

I used to know a Madeline, and she (and her whole family) pronounced it as Madlin.

isn't that the French way?

Rafe is standard in most places in England, I believe.

This thread has reminded me of an episode of Dance Moms I watched years ago (for shame).

'Her name's Angelle, it's the French word for Angel'

Erm.... I think you'll find it's the English word for Angel, spoken with a faux-French accent. Awkward.

Big Niall Quinn has Nile-ised the name

Trefor who pronounced it with the f rather than Trevor.
Sian, I’ve heard See-Ann and Cyan.

Both welsh names. The dangers of seeing a name written down and thinking you know how it sounds I guess.

@HaveringWavering
Alasdair is Gaelic, it’s simply the Gaelic version of Alexander. It’s not supposed to have a “t” in it. That’s literally a misspelling.

I don't say my name the 'correct' way. It's a non English name, I don't speak the language so I can't get the correct accent (think rolled r or something similar. it's my name, l pronounce it how I want to!

According to whom, though? Clearly not according to the people choosing to pronounce their own name in a different way to how some posters on here believe they should.

I used to work with a woman whose surname was Russell, who insisted it was pronounced Roooo-Sell.

After a while she changed the spelling to Rousell 😆

One of my colleagues spells her name as Hellen and pronounces it as Hell-een.

Not sure why in Sara Pascoe's case, but generally I think this might be a US/North American vs UK difference. In the US both Sarah and Sara are typically pronounced SAIR-ah (see also: Bob Dylan's "Sara", Hall and Oates's "Sara Smile", etc). Sara as SAR-a is becoming more popular though because it's also the Spanish-language pronunciation and spelling.

I know a Waddell who uses the wa-DELL pronunciation but I don't blame them, waddle sounds awful.

I have an unusual spelling of a not too uncommon name. It slightly changes the pronunciation. Will people listen. Will they eff. Phonetically I am constantly called Bunnynames101-een instead of bunnynames101-in. It effs me off. But I just seethe and one day that stomach ulcer will burst, kill me and the line on my tombstone will say: 'it should have been said how it was spelled'

this thread is insulting, it totally misses that there are differing pronunciations of names in different dialects and cultures. One is not more correct than the other!

I agree & the baby names threads are often insulting. People on here seem to have very little exposure to other cultures re names, it's odd

I went to school with a “See Anne” too 🙄

and a family of Dalziels who called themselves Daz-ell

According to whom, though? Clearly not according to the people choosing to pronounce their own name in a different way to how some posters on here believe they should.

To me.

English people taking an Irish name and applying a whole new pronunciation to it are wrong. They can do it, it's a free world of course. But their pronunciation is wrong.

One more that I’m very unsure about. Child in a club with DD called Niamh. I would say “Neeve” but her parents call her “Nee-Eff”. Is that maybe closer to the proper Irish pronunciation?

I think that's the correct pronunciation in Sweden/Norway. I know one too!

My contribution to this is a Sara who pronounces her name Sarah. Go figure.

@Friffle Exactly. People on here calling the thread ignorant are missing the point.

Yep.

I've had people assume I say my name wrong. I get it when it's only written down and I'm happy to correct the first time, but when they say it fine until they see it written down or I spell it and then they switch to an anglicised pronunciation, I have to assume they think I'm saying my own name wrong.

It's not an English name and my pronunciation is more like most of the world says it, but not the English way. I've had people I've worked with for over a year, had to introduce myself in front of them multiple times, who kept being surprised how I say my name and kept butchering it in meetings, so I have to assume they think I'm getting it wrong too.

I've also had online meetings - where I provide a pronunciation guide next to my name for clarity - had people ask if my name is Welsh or Irish. When I say no, they ask if it's made up, one went on about if it's made just for me...like the rest of the world doesn't exist and names said in a way they don't recognize can only come from one or two places.